


Goodbye, Darlin'

by Lieutenant_Romanoff



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Genji Shimada, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, BlackwatchWeek, M/M, So much angst, Torture tw, it isnt detailed but tagged just in case, tagged as graphic violence just in case, there is mention of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 13:39:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11647683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lieutenant_Romanoff/pseuds/Lieutenant_Romanoff
Summary: An operation at a Talon base goes wrong and Jesse gets captured. His team fear he may never return to them





	Goodbye, Darlin'

**Author's Note:**

> Blackwatch Week Day7- Time Off/AU
> 
> It's the last day and do I bring you guys lovely happy AUs or the boys spending time together away from missions? No. I bring you this heartbreaking mess
> 
> (spoilers in the chapter end notes)

 

Blackwatch were hot on the tail of their latest targets. The people in question were leading members of the terrorist organisation, Talon, and taking them out could cause the entire organisation to collapse. As such, Overwatch had decided to help out and offer up some of their best agents in an attempt to wrap up the operation as quickly as possible. This was how Gabriel, Jesse and Genji found themselves together on a mission alongside Ana Amari, Gerard Lacroix and Winston. Neither trio was entirely happy with this situation with the Overwatch agents unused to covert operations and Blackwatch agents unhappy to be working alongside the ‘goody two shoed’ Overwatch agents. Gabriel especially lamented having to share control with Ana. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the woman, he just wasn’t used to having to consult someone else before issuing orders.

 

The group were on a recon mission, they would enter one of Talon’s lesser used bases, grab whatever information they could find and get out. It would’ve been a Blackwatch only covert mission but a recent tip off had shown that Talon were currently operating at least partially out of the base in question. This new information meant that Strike Commander Morrison refused to approve a 3 man covert operation and instead insisted on Gabriel accepting Overwatch’s help in a more overt infiltration mission. Gabriel had reluctantly agreed.

 

Five of the group were positioned outside the door to the Talon base, waiting patiently for Genji, who was silently hiding in the rafters of the building, to give them the signal to attack. Well, most of them were waiting patiently. It seemed Gerard was incapable of standing still for more than a minute at a time.

 

“Eugh, all this waiting is killing me. When can we go in?” He asked, hopping from one foot to another and twirling his knives. Gabriel glared at him.

 

“Whenever Genji gives the signal. We have to wait.” He snarled. The Frenchman just rolled his eyes.

 

“Ugh it’s so boring.” He complained. It was no wonder he was with Overwatch, he wouldn’t last five damn minutes with Blackwatch. Gabriel was clearly fuming since he felt Jesse rest his hand on his shoulder. The commander instantly felt himself relax.

 

“It’s not his fault, Gabe. He ain’t used to these kind of missions.” He whispered and Gabriel sighed.

 

“I know, I know. Thanks.” Jesse smiled at him and gently ran his hand down Gabriel’s arm before taking it back.

 

“Alright about ten people just left, this is probably as good a time as any.” Genji’s voice came through the communicators.

 

“Understood.” Ana replied and she immediately turned to face Gabriel. “Your mission, you want to call it?”

 

“Alright.” Gabriel nodded at her. He appreciated Ana allowing him to mostly take control of this mission. The commander took a deep breath.

 

“Breaching in 5…4…3…2…1” With the final number called, Gabriel kicked down the door in front of them all. Gabriel charged in first, twin shotguns taking out shocked targets with ease. Winston followed him and immediately leaped across the room, taking out the agents trying to grab their weapons at the back of the room. Genji dropped from his hiding place and immediately sliced through a man’s chest. The other agents followed close behind, guns blazing and knives flying.

 

The group made quick work of the agents in the room, they were all strong agents and Ana had their back, healing any damage they had taken and sleep darting targets that posed a risk to her team’s safety.

 

“Let’s grab the information we need and go.” Ana instructed, plugging a USB into the nearest computer and commencing the download. The door at the end of the room flew open and a group of heavily armoured Talon agents came in, machine guns firing at the group. Winston quickly dropped a shield which managed to protect the team as they dived for cover.

 

“Shit. We need to protect Ana whilst she does the download then get the fuck out of here.” Gabriel yelled above the constant sound of gunshots coming from their enemies.

 

“Distract them, give me enough time and I can wipe all six of them out.” Jesse shouted and Genji nodded.

 

“Understood. Gerard, with me.” Gerard rolled his eyes at that.

 

“Of course I’m the bait.” He muttered but he rolled out of cover alongside Genji. The pair shot projectiles at the Talon agents and skilfully ducked out of the path of any bullets heading their way. Jesse took some deep breaths from where he was hiding. Before he could move, Gabriel grabbed his arm.

 

“Be careful.” He said, Jesse grinned.

 

“Always am.” And with that he stood and whirled around to face the guards. Gabriel heard the familiar drawl of ‘It’s High Noon’ followed by the distinct sound of six bodies hitting the ground. Gabriel looked up at Jesse who was standing cockily, one hand on his hip, blowing the smoke that billowed from the end of his gun. He spotted Gabriel staring and grinned.

 

“I know I’m gorgeous, darlin’ but I don’t think now is the time to stare.” Gabriel yanked him down and he was satisfied to hear the younger man yelp.

 

“Stop being a cocky shit.” Gabriel practically purred and Jesse swallowed hard. The couple stared at eachother for a moment before they felt a biotic grenade smash next to them. They both jumped and turned to see an unamused looking Ana.

 

“Stop flirting. There will be more agents coming in soon. You need to be ready.” She told them, arms crossed.

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Jesse said with a salute. Ana rolled her eyes at that but Gabriel noted the small smile on her lips as she turned back to the computer. Around the room, everyone was reloading their weapons and preparing for the inevitable second wave of Talon agents.

 

“Download at 90%.” Ana informed them. Not much longer and they could just run. No point in staying to deal with low level Talon members and risk injuring themselves. They had bigger fish to fry.

 

“95%.” As Ana spoke, the doors burst open once again and in ran an obscene number of Talon agents armed with an array of deadly weapons including, and this was what captured Gabriel’s attention immediately, a couple of rocket launchers. It seemed the agents didn’t care about destroying their own technology or killing their own people, they just wanted Overwatch out of there.

 

“98!” The men lifted the launchers.

 

 “99!” Their fingers reached for the triggers.

 

“100! RUN!” Ana screamed as the rockets flew into the air. They all dived for cover and the rockets exploded around them. Gerard was the first to run for the exit, flinging open the door and running as far as his legs would carry him.

 

“You all go! I’ll make sure everyone makes it out!” Winston shouted as another couple of rockets fired dangerously close to where Ana was sheltered. At his words, Genji made a run for it and made it safely out the door. Gabriel followed close behind. He kept running until he reached their agreed rendevouz spot which was a substantial distance away from the Talon base. When he and Genji reached it, they found Gerard collapsed on the floor, panting.

 

“Merde. Merde. MERDE. That was horrifying.” He managed to get out. Genji sat down next to him.

 

“Agreed. I did not expect the rockets.” Seconds after he spoke, they heard the sound of footsteps running towards them. They turned to find Ana slowing to a jog. Gabriel huffed. Of course Jesse was going to be the last one out of there. The guy couldn’t resist taking a few extra shots and killing a couple more agents. Later on he would no doubt tease Gabriel about having a higher kill count than his own commander.

 

“Well that went to shit.” Ana hissed as she came to a stop next to the rest of her team. Gerard raised his hand.

 

“Agreed.” He huffed out.

 

“Could’ve gone better. At least we got the information we needed.” Gabriel commented and Ana shrugged at that.

 

“Now we just have to wait for Jesse and Winston.”

 

Gabriel and Ana took a seat on the ground next to Gerard’s collapsed body and Ana pulled out a biotic grenade.

 

“Anyone need it?” She asked around. Everyone shook their head and she smiled as she pocketed it. “Well that’s something.”

 

Five minutes went by and the team started to get worried.

 

“What is keeping them so long?” Ana questioned, tapping her foot nervously.

“Jesse’s probably taking out as many of their agents as possible whilst Winston drags his ass out of there.” Genji reassured her and Gabriel nodded in agreement. Despite that though, he couldn’t help but worry about what was going on. Thankfully Winston rounded the corner, running on all fours towards them. Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief but it was cut off by a sudden realisation.

 

“Where the hell is Jesse?” He voiced his concerns aloud and the rest of the agents rose to their feet, concern lacing their features. As Winston got closer, Gabriel could see he bore a pained expression. Gabriel’s heart dropped.

 

“Where the fuck is Jesse?” Gabriel repeated his question once Winston had got closer to them.

 

“Oh god I’m sorry there was so many of them there was nothing I could do I didn’t know what to do I-” Winston began to ramble but Ana raised a hand to silence him.

 

“Slowly, Winston. What happened?” Ana said, coming to rest a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel hadn’t realised he’d been shaking until he felt Ana’s reassuring touch.

 

“They caught him. There were too many of them. I- I tried to get him back but I was overwhelmed and I had to run. They dragged him away so quickly I couldn’t move quick enough. Commander Reyes I am so sorry.” Winston managed to get out and Gabriel’s stomach dropped.

 

_They caught him. They caught him. They caught him._

The words echoed through Gabriel’s head and he stood there silently, body shaking intensely. Ana came to face him, her hands on either side of his face. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

 

“Gabriel, Gabriel. Look at me. I need you with me.” Ana spoke calmly but Gabriel could detect the concern underneath her words. “I need you to listen to me. We’ll get him back. I promise you we’ll find him and we’ll get him back. We do this on a daily basis it will be fine. Everything will be fine.”

 

Around him Genji was clenching his fists tightly, Winston was mumbling sadly at Gerard who had a solemn look on his face. Gabriel took a deep breath and attempted to steady himself.

 

_They caught him they caught him they caught him._

 

He couldn’t focus. His mind was a blur. Jesse was gone. He was gone. Talon had him. They were going to hurt him. They were going to hurt his Jesse. Gone gone gone gonegonegone-

 

He felt a sharp pain in his cheek and he shook his head. He looked down at Ana who held her hand in front of her, palm red. The people around her looked on with wide eyes.

 

“Th-thank you.” Gabriel mumbled.

 

“You’re welcome. We need to get back to base as soon as possible. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can start Jesse’s rescue mission.” Ana sounded so calm. She always knew what to do in these situations and Gabriel respected her for that more than anything else.

 

“Okay. Let’s head back.”

 

***

 

Finding Jesse was not as easy as Ana and Gabriel had hoped. There was no trace of him in any Talon documents that they managed to intercept and they had heard nothing from the organisation. That was what confused the pair the most. Every terrorist organisation had a goal, they had something they wanted. Having an Overwatch agent held hostage was the best way to start negotiations and get something that they wanted in exchange for their return. But they had heard nothing from Talon at all. It was almost as if they didn’t have a highly valuable agent on their hands.

 

Blackwatch conducted numerous covert operations at various locations, hoping to find a trace of their missing friend but every agent returned from their mission empty handed. They had gained more Talon intelligence than they had ever had but none of it helped their search. There were references to a gauntlet, various pictures of a purple skull, something about a spider project and horrific images of tortured individuals. But none of them were Jesse.

 

The weeks went by and Gabriel grew more and more depressed and tightly sprung. He had experienced a few more mental shutdowns when he thought too hard about what could have happened to his lover but these were handled with a swift slap to the face and a few well-chosen words from Ana. She was Gabriel’s rock during the whole ordeal, keeping him grounded and ensuring that he was in the best condition possible.

 

Of course Gabriel wasn’t in perfect condition. He had gained a good few grey hairs, lost a fair bit of weight and now had permanent bags under his eyes. Jack had sternly told him that he needed time off but Gabriel had growled at him that he wouldn’t rest until Jesse was back safe and sound. He had expected his old friend to argue with him but instead he had sighed, looked wistfully into the distance and softly told him that he understood. That had taken Gabriel by shock but he appreciated the Strike Commander being on his side.

 

***

 

3 weeks had gone by and with it had gone many people’s hopes of ever getting Jesse back alive. Gerard and Reinhardt were two of those who believed the Blackwatch agent was gone forever and they had taken to shooting sympathetic looks at Gabriel in the hallways and murmuring ‘such a shame’ any time Jesse’s name was mentioned.

 

Ana and Jack still believed there was a hope of finding Jesse alive but they too started looking at Gabriel with pity evident in their eyes. They believed there was a chance of finding the young man but they knew that the chance was incredibly small and with every passing day that chance got slimmer and slimmer. Gabriel and Genji were the only ones who seemed to genuinely believe that their beloved cowboy would be found safe and sound. They didn’t know when they would find them but they knew that eventually their hundreds of missions would bear fruit.

 

But even they were surprised when Jesse McCree turned up at the base one day, battered and bruised but otherwise perfectly okay. When Gabriel wandered down to the mess room one day to find Jesse slumped on one of the benches he practically screamed.

 

“JESSE!” He yelled, and in a motion most unbecoming of the commander of a covert operations team, he barrelled forwards and wrapped Jesse up in a tight hug.

 

“Oh my god, Gabe. I’ve missed you so much.” The younger man clutched onto Gabriel’s body like a lifeline. Gabriel had missed the way Jesse clung onto him like a koala. They stayed there for a good few minutes, just enjoying one another’s embrace. They heard a gasp at the doorway and turned to see a wide eyed Genji staring at them.

“J-Jesse?” He questioned. Jesse smiled back at his friend.

 

“Hey, Genji.” Genji positively glowed.

 

“Genji,” The cyborg moved his gaze to his commander “Go get Angela.” Genji nodded in response and dashed out the room. Jesse returned his gaze to Gabriel’s face and the cowboy radiated pure joy.

 

“I’m so glad to be back, Gabe.” He whispered and Gabriel smiled at him. But then, something hit him.

 

“Wait. How exactly are you back? What happened? Talon had you captured, we couldn’t find you.” Gabriel burst out, confusion evident in his tone.

 

“I escaped.” Jesse said with a shrug. Gabriel’s eyebrows furrowed.

 

“Escaped? From a Talon base?”

 

“Well it wasn’t easy. Security there is ridiculous. But I managed to get my gun back and that was all I really needed. I’ll tell you the story later, I’m sure everyone else wants to hear about my heroic escapades too.” Jesse expanded, a cheeky grin on his bruised face.

 

At that moment, Angela came bursting into the room at a full sprint. She stared at Jesse in shock and disbelief.

 

“Oh my god, Jesse!” She practically screamed as she ran towards the pair, arms outstretched. She collided with them in a massive hug that had Jesse laughing wildly and hugging her back, although not quite as enthusiastically. Angela pulled back a few moments later, her cheeks flushed.

 

“What-how-I don’t… How are you here?” Angela stuttered out.

 

“I’ll explain it to everyone later. It’s a pretty long story. One that I don’t really want to be repeating time and time again.” Jesse explained and Angela nodded. She looked down at Jesse and in that moment she seemed to take his appearance in. He had bruises littering every inch of skin and random cuts were dotted everywhere. He had bags under his eyes that could rival even Gabriel’s and he looked as though he’d barely eaten in the past few weeks.

 

“Oh god, look at you! You look awful!” She said

 

“Wow, thanks for that, Angie.” Jesse said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Angela huffed at him.

 

“You know what I mean. You need to come to the med bay. Now.” She ordered. Jesse groaned and buried his head in Gabriel’s chest.

 

“I don’t wanna…” He complained. Gabriel just laughed at him and lifted his head up.

 

“Come on, darling. We need to make sure you’re alright.” Jesse huffed at his lover but stood up regardless.

 

“Fine. But I better get some kind of reward for putting up with this.” He punctuated his statement with a wink and Gabriel rolled his eyes as he hit his palm sharply on Jesse’s butt. Jesse let out a surprised yelp and Angela giggled at the pair of them.

 

“Sure thing, Jesse.” Gabriel practically purred and Jesse turned beet red as he jogged after Angela’s retreating figure. Gabriel grinned. Two could play at that game, Jesse.

 

***

 

“It’s remarkable.” Angela muttered, eyes roaming over Jesse’s medical report.

 

“I can’t believe it.” Ana chimed in, shaking her head.

 

“What? What is it?” Jesse questioned, kicking his legs over the side of the bed he was sat on.

 

“Well, you’re in pretty good health, all things considered.” Angela explained. Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.

 

“He was captured by a terrorist organisation. What do you mean he’s in good health?” Gabriel asked the medics. Ana sighed and picked up Jesse’s medical report.

 

“Well he’s bruised and cut for sure. He’s missing a couple of teeth, a few fingernails and he’s underweight but that’s all things that come with standard torture. There’s nothing… unusual here.”

 

“Looking at the images Agent Harding retrieved from Talon, the organisation torture people beyond the usual methods. I mean these people were practically torn to shreds and here’s Jesse looking… well like Jesse.” Angela added, shaking her head in confusion.

 

“Guess I got off lightly then.” Jesse said with a shrug.

 

“You’re not at all bothered by this, Jesse?” Ana raised an eyebrow quizzically.

 

“Why would I be? Who cares what their reasons are, I got off lightly and I’m grateful for that. I’m not going to question it.” Jesse said dismissively and Angela sighed.

 

“I guess that makes sense but… I just don’t understand…” She trailed off.

 

“What exactly did they do to you, Jesse?” Ana asked

 

“Usual stuff I guess. They wanted information about Overwatch and Blackwatch. I refused to tell them anything so they did the usual kind of thing; pulled teeth out, pulled nails off, electrocuted me, waterboarding… the kind of stuff I’m trained to deal with, ya know.” Jesse listed the torture techniques off so casually it made Gabriel feel sick. How often had Jesse had to deal with these methods if he was able to list them off so causally? He decided he really didn’t want to think about it.

 

“Anything else?” Ana pushed.

 

“Not really? They refused to feed me but that’s pretty normal… Oh! There was this whole thing where they tried to convince me to work for them.”

 

“WHAT?” Ana, Angela and Gabriel all burst out in unison. Jesse looked taken aback.

 

“What? It’s not that big of a thing?”

 

“That’s a pretty big thing, Jesse.” Gabriel argued.

 

“Why would they try and convince you to join them? They know you’re loyal to Gabriel and Blackwatch.” Angela questioned. Jesse just shrugged.

 

“I dunno. I told them to shove it anyway. Didn’t like that much…” He chuckled.

 

“Well it’s worth putting on the records anyway. Might match up with some data we find later down the line.” Ana commented offhandedly, jotting down notes on a spare piece of paper. Jesse shifted uncomfortably.

 

“Can I go now? I just wanna go back to normality now…” Jesse trailed off and Angela looked at him sympathetically.

 

“Yes you can. But I will ask that you come in for weekly check-ups with me, at least for a few weeks. And Gabriel will need to keep an eye on you to make sure no symptoms show up at a later point.” Angela instructed and Jesse rolled his eyes.

 

“Yeah, yeah, got it doc. Later, Angie. Er, goodbye Captain Amari.” Jesse saluted at Ana and she chuckled.

 

“See you around, Jesse.” She waved at Jesse as he grabbed Gabriel by the hand and dragged him out of the med bay.

 

“Slow down, Jesse. What are you in such a rush for?” Gabriel laughed as he was pulled through the corridors. Jesse whirled around to face him with a sly grin on his face.

 

“Well, I’ve been gone for a while… we have quite a bit of catching up to do, I think.” He looked up at his boyfriend in an alluring manner. Gabriel grinned down at him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

 

“Hmmmm, I believe we do.”

 

***

 

Jesse awoke in a dark room and for a moment he felt panic bubble up inside him. He whipped to the side to see Gabriel sleeping peacefully beside him. He felt himself relax. He was fine. He was safe. Talon didn’t have him anymore. He could relax. He’d been back for several days now and yet he still felt the hot whips of panic whenever he woke up in the middle of the night.

 

He spun his legs over the side of the bed and placed his feet on the floor. The soft carpet between his toes reassured him that he was no longer shut up in a Talon cell and was in fact back in his boyfriend’s room. He let out a sigh as he stood up and stretched. He was unlikely to be getting back to sleep any time soon so he might as well make himself some food. He gazed over at Gabriel and smiled, thankfully he hadn’t woken his boyfriend. He didn’t want to give the man any more reason to worry about him.

 

His gaze fell to Peacekeeper which had been emptied and placed on the bedside table last night. His head started to ache and he scratched at it, irritated. He could really do without a headache right now. Angela was bound to turn it into something more than it was. He headed out the door and stumbled into Gabriel’s small kitchen area. He flicked the switch on and the light made him flinch. Ugh, hopefully this wasn’t a migraine, that was the last thing he needed right now.

 

He wandered over to the kitchen counter to whip up a sandwich or something. He grabbed the butter from the fridge along with some cheese. Nothing like a cheese sandwich to cure those midnight cravings. Some people claimed that cheese caused nightmares but Jesse wasn’t about to let that stop him enjoying a delicious cheese sandwich at some ridiculous time of night. He pulled out some slices of bread and grabbed a butter knife. The pain in Jesse’s head intensified and he dropped to his knees in agony. He dropped the knife and clenched his eyes shut. The pain vanished and Jesse opened his eyes in shock. What the actual hell?

 

He looked down at the knife he had dropped and the pain burst forward in his head. What the fuck was happening to him. Whatever it was, he wasn’t about to let it stop him enjoying an amazing cheese sandwich. He braced himself as he reached forward and grabbed the butter knife.

 

_kill_

Jesse pulled away from the knife as though it had burnt him. Was that… in his head? He shook his head. Was he losing it? God damn it he was actually losing it… He took another deep breath and grabbed the knife determinedly.

 

_kill_

Jesse snarled at the pain and forced himself to retain his grip on the knife. He opened the butter and scraped some onto the knife.

 

_overwatch… kill_

 

Alright this was getting weirder and weirder. But by god was he determined to butter this damn slice of bread. He took another breath and slid the knife across the bread.

 

_kill… shoot_

One piece of bread done. Just one more to go. He grabbed the other slice and with shaking hands applied butter to that slice too.

 

_better… kill_

Jesse dropped the knife with a sigh of relief. Thank god that was over. His gaze fell to the block of cheese on the side and he groaned. Why couldn’t Gabriel just buy grated cheese for fucks sake? He made a mental note to yell at Gabriel in the morning for his cheese buying habits. Well, after he spoke to him about the whole voices in his head thing. God, Angela was going to have a fucking field day with this.

 

He took a deep breath and his eyes shifted to look at the cheese knife. His head immediately started hurting.

 

_kill kill kill_

He groaned and contemplated making a different kind of sandwich to avoid having to deal with more of this shit. The problem was, Gabriel didn’t really have much else to put in a sandwich and he was not wasting this bread that he had spent so long buttering. He steadied himself, closed his eyes and reached for the cheese knife.

 

_kill…. reyes_

The agent’s eyes snapped open. The mission. The mission had begun.

 

They dropped the knife on the counter and turned back towards the bedroom. There were better weapons than a small knife. Better ways to kill. They pushed the door open and their gaze immediately fell to the bedside table. Gun. Perfect. Quick. Clean. They stepped towards the weapon and held it in their hand, adjusting to the weight of it. It was light but strong. It would do.

 

They leant down and grabbed a bullet. One bullet. One shot. One kill. The agent loaded the bullet into the gun. It made a satisfying click. They turned their attention to the man on the bed. Reyes. Vulnerable. Kill.

 

The agent raised their arm and pointed it at the man on the bed. His eyes fluttered open and he mumbled sleepily. The agent took the shot. A shot in the night. A blood stained pillow. A look of horror on a dead man’s eyes. The agent smiled.

 

“Goodbye, darlin’.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry
> 
> Curse my brain for seeing the prompt and immediately thinking of a Widowmaker AU


End file.
